RATIONALE FOR OUR "EXPEDITION" TO SAKHA REPUBLIC
Re-visiting "The Beginning"
Yes, it was true. Like our improbable passion for China, Pakistan and Central Asia some years before, our infatuation with Russia had become really "over the top". This trip - or rather expedition - was our sixth visit in just under five years.* Mind you, we are not known for doing anything in moderation....
And as for the above countries, we originally had little interest in visiting Russia. Initially, it was more a case of an introductory visit to the usual destinations of Moscow and St Petersburg. We were very interested to see these great cities but in all honesty, it was more like a reason to stop off on our way to the South Caucasus.
Two years later we travelled to the Russian Ear East - Kamchatka, and then to Magadan and Yakutsk. Each trip was more enthralling than the other; yet another story of "I wonder what is over the (ulus) border?" Hence our travels began to take us to more remote and much more challenging destinations, finally taking us to the Extreme Arctic of Chukotka Okrug and the Sakha Republic. Where we were told, no Russian, let alone foreign tourist ever travels....
It was as simple as that. We were well and truly "hooked on" Russia. Far East Russia, that is. And our passion remains as strong today; more recently preferring to travel during the Russian mid-winter.
*Our Russian Travels. All are published as blogs in the TravelArk website.
2015 - Moscow & St Petersburg (Russian summer)
2017 - Kamchatka, Magadan, Yakutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk (Russian summer)
2018 - Anadyr, Bilibino, Pevek Chukotka (Russian winter)
2018 - Bering Coast and Pevek, Chukotka (Russian summer)
2019 - North Caucasus (Republic of Dagestan to Krasnodar Krai), Trans-Siberian Moscow to Harbin, China (Russian summer)
2020 - Extreme Arctic Russia Anabarskiy Ulus and Oymyakonskiy Ulus, Sakha Republic (Russian winter)
2015 - Moscow & St Petersburg (Russian summer)
2017 - Kamchatka, Magadan, Yakutsk, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk (Russian summer)
2018 - Anadyr, Bilibino, Pevek Chukotka (Russian winter)
2018 - Bering Coast and Pevek, Chukotka (Russian summer)
2019 - North Caucasus (Republic of Dagestan to Krasnodar Krai), Trans-Siberian Moscow to Harbin, China (Russian summer)
2020 - Extreme Arctic Russia Anabarskiy Ulus and Oymyakonskiy Ulus, Sakha Republic (Russian winter)
Our 2020 Expedition - Our Quest to Complete the Treacherous Road of Bones.
The rationale for our 2020 travels to the Anabarskiy and Oymyakonskiy regions is detailed comprehensively in the blog publication "Zimnik Yuryung-Khaya: Expedition Extreme Arctic Russia" at http://v2.travelark.org/travel-blog-entry/crowdywendy/13/1586077748
It is perhaps however, worthwhile re-visiting the reasons we chose this particular route, especially the second leg from Yakutsk to Oymyakon. Or rather, how it chose us....
We had been most taken with Magadan and its surrounds during our 2017 visit. And while there we had been fortunate to travel with a very knowledgeable local historian to the former gulag sites of the formidable Stalin era. The four wheel-drive trip to the gulags had taken us some 350 km west from Magadan toward Yakutsk along the 2,031 km infamous Road of Bones, sadly more often known for its ill-gotten fame for being literally "built on the bones" of the poor wretched souls who perished during its construction.
The dangerous nature of the road was at the time of our travels, almost as notorious as its dreadful past. It was we were told, almost impassable for most vehicles; the only means of transport being heavy vehicles such as Trekols, or more suitably the big military styled Kamaz trucks or Burlaks.
It sounded like a truly fascinating journey. And not surprisingly, travelling the entire route from Magadan to Yakutsk, or in reverse, became a compelling mission.
Finding an agent with an English-speaking guide/driver who would take us safely to our destination was not an easy task. We had learnt from experience that it is wise to engage the services of a local agent. After all, the larger well-known agencies we had dealt with in the past only sub-contract to local people anyway, adding substantially to the cost and reducing the efficiency of communication with the actual provider.
We had known of, and communicated with the English, Russian-based travel agent Edward Adrian-Vallance for some years and had been impressed with his professional website and many travel publications. His Moscow-based company Arctic Russia Travel offered a wide variety of fascinating "way out there" mega-remote tour destinations, one of which was "Overland to Chukotka". The tour was very attractive because it travelled along the Road of Bones from Yakutsk to Bilibino in Chukotka. Although it took a different route than that of Yakutsk direct to Magadan, we were more than happy to take the longer diversion to Bilibino, a town we had visited and liked very much during our winter travels of 2018. After all, we could always fly from Bilibino to our beloved Magadan on our return route home.
Wherever we can, we always travel as a private tour for just the two of us. The road however, although significantly improved from our first travels, was still apparently woeful in some parts. The other problem was that being so remote, there was almost no accommodation en route. We would have to sleep some nights in our heavy vehicle with our driver and guide.
Ed suggested that a more economical and comfortable approach may be to hire a big Kamaz truck and have it outfitted with beds and a kitchenette. The cost for just the two of us however, was massively prohibitive. Disappointed, we had to admit defeat. Our quest to complete the Road of Bones was sadly out of the question.
The Anabarskiy-Oymyakonskiy Expedition
Given our passion for remote, off-the-beaten-track destinations, Ed suggested a 3,000 km overland road trip to the Anabarskiy Ulus with our final destination being the tiny ethnic Dolgan village of Yuryung-Khaya, one of the northernmost locations in all of the Russian Federation. It fulfilled most of our requirements of interesting terrain with a variety of taiga and tundra vegetation as well as opportunities to interact with local ethnic Yakut and Dolgan communities. Furthermore, it would provide the very best opportunities possible for observing the famous Northern Lights - the much-famed Aurora Borealis. And it sure was remote....
Furthermore, we would be able to stay in hotels or private accommodation each night. At our ages of 66 and 82 years, the thought of sleeping in a truck with two other people didn't quite appeal. Another significant benefit was the cost. Although hugely expensive, it would be far cheaper as we could do the entire trip by Land Cruiser.
The Anabarskiy trip would take us around 15 days, about a week short of the ideal time for a Russian stay for us. After all, it can take us some 12 days just for return travel to Yakutsk from our home village on the Mid North Coast of New South Wales, Australia. With the usual 30-day Russian travel visa limit, around three to four weeks stay in Russia per trip is ideal.
It was Alan's idea that on our return from Anabarskiy, we could consider adding on a short return trip to from Yakutsk to Oymyakon. Otherwise known as the "Pole of Cold", it is the coldest inhabited settlement on the planet; having as mentioned reached a staggering minus 71.2 C in January 1924. The 2,000 km return road trip would take us another five days of travel - a perfect addition to our total expedition. It would also mean we could travel another 1,000 km of the Road of Bones from the Yakutsk end east toward Magadan. It wasn't quite like completing the entire trip but it was as we agreed, the best we could do. Without breaking our bank account, that is....
But what was there to see at Oymyakon? Was it just a tourist place because of its Guinness Book of Records temperature recording? The answers were apparently "not much" and "yes". Ed however, did say we would be experiencing a completely different mountainous landscape to that en route to Anabarskiy. In fact, he was quite upbeat about the region which unlike our Anabarskiy trip was inhabited mostly by the Evenki people. It would also, as he said, give us a few more days up our sleeves if anything went "awry" with our Anabarskiy trip. Which of course it did.
And so, that is how our voyage to Oymyakon, and our "Reconnection with the Road of Bones" came to fruition.
NOTES
We used the services of Arctic Russia Travel for all the organisation of our two tours of Anabarskiy and Oymyakonskiy in Yakutia. The company also booked all our transfers and accommodation at the Tygyn Darkhan Hotel in Yakutsk.
Contact Details: Edward Adrian-Vallance, Managing Director, Arctic Russia Travel, Moscow.
Website: www.arcticrussiatravel.com & www.yamalpeninsulatravel.com
Email: ed@arcticrussiatravel.com
Phone: +79104255571
Website: www.arcticrussiatravel.com & www.yamalpeninsulatravel.com
Email: ed@arcticrussiatravel.com
Phone: +79104255571
Alan arranged all our flights and accommodation in Russia and return to Sydney via Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Sakhalin Island and Tokyo, Japan.
2025-02-07